Faculty Feature: Professor Menesh Patel

Professor of Law Menesh Patel has taught at King Hall since 2018, with a primary focus on antitrust, securities regulation, and corporate law. Previously, he was a Post-Doctoral Research Scholar in the Program in the Law & Economics of Capital Markets at Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School. Professor Patel also previously practiced law, most recently at Sidley Austin LLP, and was a law and economics fellow at Stanford Law School. He earned his J.D. at Stanford, his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Iowa.

What drew you to the practice of law?

There were a few reasons, but the key was the problem-solving nature of the enterprise. I was sort of a “mathy” person growing up. Problem-solving was something that I found interesting, and I saw that as what the practice of law really entailed: being given complex problems every day and being asked to solve them on behalf of clients. And so it was that part of it that drew me into a career in the practice of law.

What motivated you to be a professor of law?

I think there were two things, really. The first is that I wanted to be able to spend more of my time exploring legal issues and ideas. In the practice of law, you do many things, and some of that is thinking about issues. But that’s really in the back seat, as the ultimate job of a lawyer is assisting clients in resolving their legal issues. I recognized that thinking about legal issues and ideas understandably could not be a primary focus of my work as a lawyer, but that would be the case if I were a law professor.

The second part was teaching. I had taught at a previous point in my career, when I was a graduate student, and it was something that brought me great fulfillment. I wanted to have that role as part of my professional career. I had done some mentoring as an attorney of junior lawyers, and that further reiterated to me that teaching was something that I would enjoy doing professionally.

What would your students be surprised to learn about you?

I grew up in Iowa. There are not lot of people at King Hall from Iowa, so that’s something that’s in my background that may not be obvious.

What interests you about your areas of research?

I have a few different areas of interest in my research, and they each appeal to me for different reasons. But one common thread is that all of my areas of research are tied to our economic system. Because that system changes so much, the issues that are relevant change with high frequency even in short periods of time. I find that to be interesting.

An example is antitrust. In the past few years, we’ve seen increased conversations about the dominance of technology companies. That’s a reflection of the changing economic system we now have. Large companies in the tech space are responsible for a lot of the products and applications we engage with. There are a lot of important questions of public policy, including antitrust, that are raised by the dominance of large technology companies. For example, is there something that’s inherently bad about being large or do we care about how you got to be large, for instance, through innovation.

The law in some ways is fixed, but the issues change with such rapidity that new interesting questions arise all the time. That applies not just to my research but also to the practice areas that are related to my research. As students who go on to practice in these areas will find out for themselves, because the economic system changes so much, the issues they will see in practice will change so much as well.

Where did you work before King Hall?

Right before I started at King Hall, I was at Columbia Law School. That was a two-year fellowship that was focused primarily on conducting academic research. That position was intended to be a pivot from practice into legal academics. Prior to that, I practiced for about ten years. Most of my time in practice was spent at Sidley Austin in their Chicago and San Francisco offices, focusing in large part on antitrust but also on other practice areas.

What are your goals as a King Hall faculty member?

My first goal is to be an excellent teacher. That’s motivated in large part by personal experience, because at all points in my education, I was really fortunate to have been taught by very capable and dedicated educators. Without those educators, I know that I wouldn’t have the perspective that I do now, and so I want to be the same resource to my students that my teachers and professors were to me.

The second is to make valuable and lasting contributions to my field. I find that to be valuable not just for its own sake but because I, like other professors, have a unique opportunity to add to the corpus of knowledge and also to affect public policy by our research. I want to be able to use that platform to be able to make contributions but also to try to influence the law through my research.

The final, which is no less important than the other two, is to be able to contribute to the King Hall community by being an active participant in activities, committees, and engaging in the many other opportunities that cause our law school to not just be a law school, but also a thriving community.

What do you most enjoy about teaching? What do you hope students gain from your courses?

I enjoy many things about teaching, but the part of teaching I enjoy the most is being a conduit for the students, meaning that I am a bridge between the subject matter and their learning. All students can learn the material by reading the cases or the casebook, but I think as professors we are able to siphon that primary information in a way that’s hopefully more understandable and interesting and draws connections to other things that our students are learning or already know. It’s really being that intermediary between the subject matter and the students’ understanding that I enjoy most about teaching.

The other part of your question is what I hope students gain. It’s a really mundane and simplistic perspective, but it’s the truth. I really hope my students learn the material. I think that’s important because, while the practice of law is incredibly complex, it’s not really complex because of the law, which in many instances is relatively straightforward (although there are certainly many exceptions). I see my role as somewhat of a modest one: to be a teacher of the material and engage students and want them to learn more about it.

Do you have any hobbies or notable interests outside of your law career?

I really enjoy exploring California. We’re so fortunate to be in this part of the world, where there is such a rich diversity of people, experiences, and geography. It’s been a little harder the past year or so. I have a two-year-old now, and, for instance, she enjoys listening to “The Wheels on the Bus” on repeat for hours. That makes the drives a little bit different than they used to be, but I still enjoy it.

What do you find most satisfying about the law?

If you ask non-lawyers what a lawyer might find satisfying about their career, they may provide responses such as, a lawyer is satisfied by assisting clients with their pressing legal needs, or a lawyer is satisfied when the outcome is favorable for their client. Those are things that I found incredibly satisfying, and something that all lawyers do find satisfying. But a piece that’s underlooked, at least by those who are learning to be lawyers or aren’t lawyers, is that lawyers get great satisfaction and have a lot of fun by becoming subject matter experts of the particular issues that they’re asked to engage with.

As a lawyer, you’re often presented with a set of really messy facts about your client’s particular legal matter, whatever it is. It may be one that relates to housing, one that relates to intellectual property, one that relates to civil rights, for instance. Those facts, when you get them as a lawyer, are difficult to digest. While you may have some familiarity with the subject matter, you are going to be unfamiliar with the client’s particular orientation of the subject matter. Through time, as you work with those facts of the client’s matter more, the pieces start falling into place and you become very conversant and have a deep understanding of the factual aspect of the client’s matter. That’s something that’s quite satisfying. It’s something that all lawyers understand, but those who do not practice law may not see because they’re focused on outcomes and the legal issues and the problems. But there is real magic in the facts and it becomes a very satisfying undertaking to slowly become a master of those facts.

Do you have one piece of advice for King Hall law students?

I have a lot of advice for King Hall law students, and I’m happy to meet with any of them at any time to talk to them about their time as a law student and their future careers as lawyers. If I’m limited to providing one piece of advice, I would advise law students to take affirmative steps to finding a good match between their aspirations and backgrounds and their future careers. Because I think being satisfied in life, when you’re matching with something or someone, largely is based on whether or not there’s a good fit between you and that other thing.

With respect to a legal career, I think that involves two components. The first is understanding yourself and what you want out of your professional career, and where your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. Out of the weaknesses, which of those do you want to work on or which are you going to treat as immutable? Then once you pin down yourself, the second piece is trying to get a better understanding of what different paths of the law entail. While students can learn what lawyers do through their courses or speaking with faculty and others at the law school, I think it is important for students to go outside of the law school to obtain information on what those different paths entail, such as by speaking with our wonderful alums. By learning as much as they can about what different lawyers do, students can better ensure that the career they ultimately pursue is one that matches them well.

One of the beauties of a career in the law is that there are so many different career paths. They all are a little different, and each of us is a little different. The ultimate goal, I think, is to try to find a good match between the person and the career.